Engaging Students Through
Video Game Development
Educational Ideas for Today, Tomorrow and the Future
Mitzi Plunkett
Andrew Bigby
Orelle Anderson
Rayfield C. Henderson and Joyce C. Ferguson, Co-Principals
Boyd H. Anderson High School, Lauderdale Lakes, FL
Objectives on Target
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Identifying how video game
development engages students.
Understanding how video game
development elevates higher order
thinking skills.
Acquiring programming skills
through video game development..
Increasing literacy through the
use of video game development.
Today’s Generation
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Interactive and visual products
24-7.
Students demanding engaging
material because they it fast
and they want it now.
Majority of students regularly
play video games and want to
be video game designers.
Education Research and Video Games
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Since 2002, increase in minority students
with learning and emotional disabilities.
“There is evidence indicating that minority
students who are most at risk for failure in
the traditional classroom setting also spend
an average of twenty-seven minutes per day
more than their counterparts using video
games .”
“Video games allow teachers to share
learning experiences with the students and
to label and extend the student's learning in
such a way as to truly prepare the child for
future challenges. “
Resource: Elizabeth S. Simpson, Association for Educational Communications and Technology
http://www.aect.org/Publications/index.asp.
Video Game Design Video
Making Real World Experience!
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Video game curriculum provides for a real world
project.
Students have an online mentor/supervisor.
Student have to identify the customer’s criteria and
constraints.
Students create a video game that can be played
anywhere within a few weeks!
Project Based Learning
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Working in a collaborative team.
Completing phases of the project jointly and individually.
Curriculum includes online worksheets and quizzes.
Students work as a team to create a video game
from a game template
Students work on various parts, i.e. programming, graphic
design, sound, etc.
Project Based Learners
Stages of Project Based Learning
Planning
•Brainstorming
Developing
•Assessing
student’s prior
knowledge
•Reading
phases with
graphic
organizers
•Selecting
project
manager
•Practicing
command line
interface
•Establishing
group norms
•Viewing
videos
•Division of
tasks
•Worksheets
•Setting
timeline
•Quizzes
Designing
•Writing code
Implementing
•Designing
graphics
•Creating an
executable
game file
•Importing
sound
•Oral
presentation
•Testing and
error
checking
•Peer review
assessment
worksheet
•Quality
assurance
checklist
•Oral
presentation
to peers
Video Game Development…
Video Game Development Projects
Dark Basic Editor: Students
Manipulate Coding
Gaming Concepts to Teach
Game
Engines
Loops
Prototype
Algorithms
Variables/Logical
Operators
Random &
Real Numbers
IF/THEN Statements
Camera
Positioning X,Y,
Z axis
BETA
Testing
Results of Project Based Learning
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Students are focused.
Less discipline problems.
Students work from bell to bell.
Students with low reading levels can increase levels with
supporting video which helps with reading text.
Increased literacy and vocabulary due to real world
experience.
Graphic organizers used in conjunction with videos and
text increases comprehension.
Increasing reading endurance.
Development of Higher
Order Thinking Skills
1. Acquiring knowledge
about game design
through reading and
testing.
2. Applying knowledge
for problem solving,
designing and
developing video
game.
3. Refining knowledge
for analyzing and
writing code.
4. Adapting the skills
learned to create
solutions and take
action to further
develop thinking skills.
5. Synthesizing
information and making
process changes.
6. Becoming problem
solvers and thinkers
Conclusions
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Through video game development, teachers can
increase student learning and grab their attention.
Creating a relationship between learning and how
it can be applied in the real world.
Motivating students with an interactive program.
Engaging students with rigor and relevance in the
classroom and elevating higher order thinking
skills.
Students will become better competitors in a
global marketplace.